D-rank

"A few days ago, it rained, and mushrooms grew on the beams in the old house's warehouse again. They looked pretty good, so I picked them all and brought them over." Jiang Weiguo walked to the kitchen door, opened the sack he had brought, and took out its contents one by one. "Wild pheasant, wild rabbit, muntjac meat, wild boar leg—they're all cured. Jiankang, put them away for me. Tea Tree Mushrooms, wild ones, dried and ready to use for soup. And this."

Having dealt with mushrooms for more than half a month, Jiang Feng recognized at a glance that the bag in Jiang Weiguo's hand contained shiitake mushrooms.

Coincidentally, Jiang Huiqin had also used shiitake mushrooms to make soup.

"Use these for soup. Don't add any other random junk." Jiang Weiguo set the bag on the table, and plump mushrooms rolled out of it.

"How do I make it..." Jiang Feng asked blankly.

"You've been making soup for over half a month, and you're asking me how to make it?" Jiang Weiguo scolded him, his voice full of vigor. "Do I need to teach you how to cook something like this? Can't you add some water and salt? Do I have to teach you every step by hand?"

Jiang Jiankang found this scene all too familiar. When he and his brothers had learned to cook as children, the old man had cursed at them just like this. As long as they shamelessly asked one more question about the specifics, the old man would scold them while teaching them step by step.

Yet things developed differently from what he had expected.

"Oh." Jiang Feng came to his senses and took the shiitake mushrooms out of the bag.

The mushrooms had not been washed after being picked. Their roots were still coated in dirt, and their folds were grimy too. Cleaning them would probably take some time.

Jiang Feng cut off the roots, soaked the mushrooms in water, and carefully washed and rubbed them one by one. He washed them three times in total, changing the water three times.

Then he began making the soup.

Since Jiang Huiqin had used shiitake mushrooms, shiitake soup was actually the soup Jiang Feng had made most often lately. He had tried practically every combination he could think of. Aside from the first time, when he had only added scallion segments, the ingredients in every other batch had been so abundant that people might wonder whether it was really shiitake soup.

He could not help it. Shiitake mushrooms had such a rich flavor.

Following Jiang Weiguo's words, Jiang Feng added nothing except shiitake mushrooms. He used only salt as seasoning.

Just as he had done countless times before, Jiang Feng stood by the pot, watching the water boil and the ingredients tumble. He skimmed away the foam and stirred slowly.

Jiang Weiguo watched from the side and could not help revealing a faint smile.

Jiang Jiankang froze when he saw the old man smile.

It was not that Jiang Weiguo disliked smiling. It was simply that Jiang Jiankang had rarely seen him smile while someone else was cooking. Given Jiang Weiguo's standards, not being cursed while cooking in front of him was already the highest praise a younger generation member could receive. The last time Jiang Jiankang had seen the old man smile in the kitchen was when he had Improved Kung Pao Chicken.

That was also the only dish he had ever Improved himself.

The soup was almost ready.

Jiang Feng had a feeling that this was the most successful pot of soup he had made in all this time.

The shiitake flavor was still rich, but it was no longer jarring.

The pot of soup on the stove plainly told Jiang Feng—

I am shiitake soup. This is what I taste like.

A pot of shiitake soup with practically nothing to criticize.

Jiang Feng took a sip.

There really was nothing to criticize.

It was shiitake soup.

Just ordinary shiitake soup.

Ordinary, but delicious.

It tasted better than every mushroom soup he had made before.

Jiang Weiguo did not taste it. He merely looked at the soup in the pot, then at Jiang Feng's expression, nodded in satisfaction, and turned to ask Jiang Jiankang, "How many dishes do you still have left to stir-fry?"

Jiang Jiankang, who was tossing the wok, nearly tossed the Kung Pao Chicken right out of it. "This one, and Minced Eggplant."

"I'll cook them. Go take out the pork I sent over and thaw it. Two catties of pork belly, four catties of ribs, and cut some lean meat too." Jiang Weiguo took over the wok and continued stir-frying the Kung Pao Chicken, while Jiang Jiankang hurried to the cold storage for the meat the old man wanted.

Jiang Feng was making Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices.

Having made one every day, he already knew every step by heart.

The final eggplant dish had been added by Liu Qian.

She had run eight hundred meters in PE class that afternoon. As usual, after ordering two dishes, she had felt it was not enough and added a serving of Minced Eggplant. She had just mixed the last bit of sauce from Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs in her plate with rice. With nothing to do with her mouth now, she chatted with the viewers in her livestream.

Her livestream now steadily had more than a thousand followers every day, with plenty of active viewers as well. Everyone had grown used to her suffocating camera angles, which had gradually become one of her trademarks. After signing with the streaming platform, she could earn a few hundred yuan a month. It was not even enough to cover her food expenses, but she enjoyed it all the same.

"Annoying Streamer is eating a lot today!" Yan Jiaxiaoyu's conspicuous yellow comment floated across the top of the screen.

She had eaten three bowls of rice and two large plates of dishes today. That was nothing for a professional eating streamer, but compared to her usual appetite, it was indeed quite a lot more.

"Yeah, I had PE class this afternoon. I burned more energy, so I ate more!"

"Annoying Streamer, why haven't we seen your club president lately?" Someone still remembered Jiang Feng.

"Our president has been making soup in the kitchen every day lately, and it tastes awful. The soup they've been giving out lately was all made by him. I think even I could make better soup than him. Yesterday's mushroom, greens, and tofu soup was the worst!" Liu Qian said indignantly. "His porridge is clearly pretty good, but who knew his soup would taste so bad?"

"Still, I really haven't seen the president for a while. He hasn't even attended club activities lately."

A flood of hahahahas swept across the screen.

Before long, Ji Yue came over carrying the eggplant.

Liu Qian sniffed and sighed. "It smells so good."

Yan Jiaxiaoyu hurriedly sent another comment: "Annoying Streamer says everything smells good."

"No, today's eggplant smells different. It smells especially good!" Liu Qian said with a serious expression.

Ji Yue placed the eggplant in front of Liu Qian. "I just saw that Jiang Feng's grandfather cooked this eggplant. It smells especially good."

"I also heard his grandfather say that he'd be making dinner tonight."

Liu Qian immediately got the hint, declaring that she would stay and help out while mooching a meal.

The freshly cooked Minced Eggplant was still steaming, glistening with oil and looking incredibly delicious.

"Why do I feel like today's eggplant looks especially tasty (ω)"

"This eggplant looks amazing."

"So oily. It looks disgusting."

"Annoying Streamer's eyes have gone wide."

Liu Qian looked at her phone, picked up a piece of eggplant with her chopsticks, and put it into her mouth. She exclaimed, "Oh my god, this is way too delicious!"

On the other side, Jiang Feng's Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices was also complete.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for completing the Improvement of Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices (Pseudo)."

Ignoring the fact that Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Jiankang were still handling pork nearby, Jiang Feng opened his attributes panel.

Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices (Pseudo), D-rank, Improved:

Creator: Jiang Huiqin

Improver: Jiang Feng

Improvement Evaluation: Returning to simplicity, the greatest truths were the simplest. The simplest ingredients created the original flavor.

Dish Details: A dish with terrible ingredient combinations and seasoning, yet Jiang Huiqin's outstanding culinary skill and the special environment made it exceptionally precious. It became a light in Li Mingyi's darkest hour, supporting him as he continued to live. No special bonuses.

Daily Crafting Limit: 1 time. (1/1)

The Improvement had succeeded?

It was still D-rank?

Jiang Feng could hardly believe it. He did not even dare taste it.

It was that simple?

How was that possible!

This barely counted as repaying what I owed from the past two days _(ω"∠)_

Good night, everyone!